Copying copy protectd optical discs

ABSTRACT

To copy a copy protected DVD ( 32 ), and thereby subvert the copy prot-ection technique, a DVD drive ( 50 ) is controlled by a disc copying program ( 54 ) to access data at a level other than that at the user data level. For example, if it is the data frame ( 44 ) which is read, the DVD drive ( 50 ) is controlled to write a data frame ( 12 ) to a copy disc ( 52 ). During the copying process, the program ( 54 ) may be arranged to remove sector IDs and error detection codes from the read data frames ( 44 ) and to generate new sector IDs and appropriate ID error detection codes for the data frames ( 12 ) to be written to the copy disc ( 52 ). This circumvents any copy protection which has been incorporated in the identification data in a data frame of the original disc ( 52 ).

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for copyingoptical discs which, for example, enables copy protected optical discsto be reliably copied. The invention also extends to software orfirmware for use with an optical disc drive to enable the copying ofoptical discs.

There are many techniques for copy protecting optical discs. Forexample, EP-A-1227482 and WO 02/11136 describe signature methods of copyprotection in which an authenticating signature is added to theinformation carried by an optical disc. When it is required to accessthe disc, software carried by the disc requires initially that theexistence of the signature be verified. If the signature is not foundaccess to the data on disc is denied.

It is important that the authenticating signature is not copied when agenuine disc is copied. This can be achieved, for example, as inEP-A-1227482, by providing as the signature a pattern of deliberateerrors at predetermined locations. When a disc drive is used to read adisc and then to copy the data, only the information on the disc isaccessed and corrected information is written to the copy disc. Thismeans that the copy disc cannot be authenticated as required.

In non-signature methods of copy protection, data is added to theinformation on the disc which will not generally cause any problems whenan original disc is read or played but which adversely affects, orstops, the copying action of a consumer disc drive. There are very manyexamples of such copy protection means of which WO-A-0074053 is just oneexample.

The present invention seeks to provide means to defeat such copyprotection techniques.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided amethod of copying a copy protected optical disc, the method comprisingthe steps of reading data from an optical disc at a selected level whichdiffers from the user data level, and writing the data read from saidselected level to an optical disc to create a usable copy of a copyprotected optical disc.

It will be appreciated that when user data is applied to an optical discit is subject to a number of formatting processes such as errorcorrection, interleaving and encoding. These processes can be thought ofas creating a number of data levels from the highest level, which is theuser data level, through a number of lower levels, to the lowest datalevel, which is the encoded data level at which the data is provided asa series of 0s and 1s which are represented as pits and lands on thesurface of the optical disc.

The invention is described herein with particular relevance to DVDformats. In this respect, recordable and rewritable DVDs and DVD writersare becoming increasingly available. Furthermore, because DVDs have muchlarger storage capabilities than CDs, they are increasingly becoming theoptical disc of choice for numbers of applications and it is foreseenthat, at least in the short to medium term, DVDs will take over whereonce CDs were pre-eminent. However, this invention is not limited toDVDs and may be used with all formats of CDs, with all formats of DVDs,and with other formats of optical discs whether available now or in thefuture.

In an embodiment, the data levels at least comprise, from highest tolowest, the user data level, a data frame level, an error correctedlevel, and an encoded data level, and the data is read from the opticaldisc at the error corrected level.

For example, the method may comprise reading the data from the errorcorrected level without any error correction codes, and writing the readdata to an optical disc, the writing step involving generating errorcorrection codes for the read data.

This embodiment is particularly useful, for example, where copyprotection has been added to the optical disc by altering the dataand/or the error correction codes. By reading the data from the errorcorrected level, but without any error correction codes, the base datacan be accurately written to the copy disc. The writing step, in thiscase, will involve generating appropriate error correction codes for thedata being written.

In an alternative embodiment, which is particularly useful for defeatingsignature methods of copy protection, the method comprises reading thedata from the error corrected level together with any error correctioncodes and writing the read data to an optical disc.

Where a signature method, for example, relies upon the fact that errorcorrection codes are discarded as the data on the disc is read, the copyprotection can be defeated by directly reading the data together withthe original error correction codes from the disc and applying this datawith the codes to the copy disc. By this means an authenticatingsignature is added to the copy disc.

Preferably, writing the read data to an optical disc comprisesinterleaving the read data together with the error correction codes,encoding the interleaved data in accordance with EFM Plus encoding andwriting the resultant bit stream to the optical disc.

In an alternative embodiment, the data levels at least comprise, fromhighest to lowest, the user data level, a data frame level, an errorcorrected level, and an encoded data level, and the data is read fromthe optical disc at the data frame level.

For example, the method may comprise reading the data from the dataframe level without any additional codes, and writing the read data toan optical disc, the writing step involving generating additional codesfor the read data. The additional codes generated may include sectornumbers.

This method is particularly useful to defeat copy protection where, forexample, sector numbers and other additional codes have been changed atthe data frame level. In one such copy protection technique, the sectornumbers used may be chosen so that they are not sequential, and/or maymiss some numbers in sequence, and/or may be duplicated. Suchalterations do not affect the normal play of an original disc as theplayer requires only to address particular sectors by number. If asector number has been omitted, for example, it is only necessary toensure that the player is never asked to access a sector with thatnumber. However, a DVD writer will generally perform a copying operationby accessing the sectors in sequential order. Missing sector numbers,sector numbers in a non-sequential order, and duplicate sector numbersall provide difficulties to the DVD writer and may cause it to faileither to read or to copy.

Such copy protection measures can be defeated by reading the data fromthe data frame level without the additional codes and generatingappropriate additional codes upon writing the data to the copy disc.

Where a copy protection method, for example, relies upon the fact thatthe additional codes are discarded as the data on the disc is read, thecopy protection can be defeated by directly reading the data at the dataframe level together with the sector numbers and other additional codes.The data together with the additional codes is applied to the disc.

Preferably, writing the read data to an optical disc comprisesscrambling and subsequently error correcting the read data together withthe additional codes, interleaving the error corrected data, encodingthe interleaved data in accordance with EFM Plus encoding and writingthe resultant bit stream to the optical disc.

In a further alternative embodiment, the data levels at least comprise,from highest to lowest, the user data level, a data frame level, anerror corrected level, an interleaved level, and an encoded data level,and the data is read from the optical disc at the interleaved level, andthe method further comprises writing the read data to an optical disc.

In a still further embodiment of the invention, the data levels at leastcomprise, from highest to lowest, the user data level, a data framelevel, an error corrected level, and an encoded data level, and the datais read from the disc at the encoded data level, and further comprisingwriting the read encoded data to an optical disc.

The encoded data is the stream of bits, that is, 0s and 1s, which isgenerated from the pits and lands on the optical disc. All forms of copyprotection can be overcome if the data is read at this lowest level anddirectly applied to the copy disc.

Preferably, the read encoded data is a bit stream in accordance with EFMPlus encoding and the bit stream is written to the optical disc.

The embodiments of the method as defined above may each further comprisethe step of creating the Lead-In for the optical disc being written.

For example, the created Lead-In may specify the physicalcharacteristics and/or manufacturing information for the optical discbeing written.

These methods enable circumvention of copy protection techniques wherethe optical disc carries software requiring an authentication program tobe run as a precursor to data on the optical disc being accessed andwhere that authentication program requires physical characteristicsand/or manufacturing information for the optical disc. If suchauthentication programs use data provided in the Lead-in, theauthentication process can be circumvented by providing a createdLead-In which has appropriate data as required by an authenticationprogram.

Instead of creating a new Lead-In for the copy disc, physicalcharacteristics and/or manufacturing information for the optical discbeing written can be specified and written to the Lead-In on the copydisc to replace the information from the original disc.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of enabling readingand writing of discs using absolute sector addresses, and using theabsolute sector addresses to read the entire data in the Lead-In of acopy protected optical disc, and writing the data read from the Lead-Into the Lead-In of the optical disc being written.

An alternative embodiment further comprises the step of enabling readingand writing of discs using negative relative sector addresses, and usingthe negative relative sector addresses to read the entire data in theLead-In of a copy protected optical disc, and writing the data read fromthe Lead-In to the Lead-In of the optical disc being written.

The use of absolute sector addresses or negative relative sectoraddresses enables a DVD writer to access the Lead-In of an original discand to thereby extract and write the data from that Lead-In to form theLead-In to the optical disc being written.

The present invention also extends to apparatus for copying opticaldiscs, the apparatus comprising means for reading data from an opticaldisc at a selected level which differs from the user data level, andmeans for writing the data read from said selected level to an opticaldisc.

In an embodiment, the means for reading data from an optical disc at aselected level comprises pickup means to detect the data carried on anoptical disc, and decoding means for decoding the detected data, and themeans for writing the data to an optical disc comprises encoding meansfor encoding the decoded data, and mastering means for representing theencoded data on an optical disc.

Alternatively, the means for reading data from an optical disc at aselected level comprises pickup means to detect the data carried on anoptical disc, decoding means for decoding the detected data, and meansfor arranging the decoded data into a recording frame, and the means forwriting the data to an optical disc comprises encoding means forencoding the data in the recording frame, and mastering means forrepresenting the encoded data on an optical disc.

In another alternative embodiment, the means for reading data from anoptical disc at a selected level comprises pickup means to detect thedata carried on an optical disc, decoding means for decoding thedetected data, de-interleaving means for arranging the decoded data intoan ECC block, and the means for writing the data to an optical disccomprises interleaving means for interleaving the data in the ECC block,encoding means for encoding the interleaved data, and mastering meansfor representing the encoded data on an optical disc.

In a further alternative embodiment, the means for reading data from anoptical disc at a selected level comprises pickup means to detect thedata carried on an optical disc, decoding means for decoding thedetected data, de-interleaving means for arranging the decoded data intoan ECC block, and error correction decoding means for determining errorcorrected data from said ECC block, and the means for writing the datato an optical disc comprises error correction encoding means forencoding said error corrected data to form an ECC block, interleavingmeans for interleaving the data in the ECC block, encoding means forencoding the interleaved data, and mastering means for representing theencoded data on an optical disc.

Alternatively, the means for reading data from an optical disc at aselected level comprises pickup means to detect the data carried on anoptical disc, decoding means for decoding the detected data,de-interleaving means for arranging the decoded data into an ECC block,error correction decoding means for determining error corrected datafrom said ECC block, and unscrambling means for unscrambling thedetermined error corrected data and forming a data frame, and the meansfor writing the data to an optical disc comprises scrambling means forscrambling the formed data frame, error correction encoding means forencoding said data frame to form an ECC block, interleaving means forinterleaving the data in the ECC block, encoding means for encoding theinterleaved data, and mastering means for representing the encoded dataon an optical disc.

Preferably, the data is read from the data frame without any additionalcodes, and the means for writing the data to an optical disc comprisesmeans for generating additional codes for the read data to form a dataframe for input to said scrambling means.

In all of the embodiments of the apparatus set out above, said decodingand encoding means preferably operate in accordance with EFM Plusencoding, and said mastering means may comprise a laser cutter.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is providedsoftware or firmware for use with an optical disc drive to enable thecopying of optical discs, the software or firmware comprisinginstructions for reading data from an optical disc at a selected levelwhich differs from the user data level, and instructions to write theread data from the selected level to an optical disc to create a copy ofthe disc.

In an embodiment, the data levels at least comprise, from highest tolowest, the user data level, a data frame level, an error correctedlevel, and an encoded data level, and the software or firmware furthercomprises instructions to read the data from the optical disc at theerror corrected level.

For example, the software or firmware may further comprise instructionsto read the data from the error corrected level without any errorcorrection codes, and to write the read data to an optical disc with thewriting step involving generating error correction codes for the readdata.

In an alternative embodiment, the software or firmware may compriseinstructions to read the data from the error corrected level togetherwith any error correction codes and to write the read data to an opticaldisc.

Alternatively, where the data levels at least comprise, from highest tolowest, the user data level, a data frame level, an error correctedlevel, and an encoded data level, the software or firmware may furthercomprise instructions to read the data from the optical disc at the dataframe level.

For example, instructions may be provided to read the data from the dataframe level without any additional codes, and to write the read data toan optical disc with the writing step involving generating additionalcodes for the read data.

Alternatively, the software or firmware may comprise instructions toread the data from the data frame level together with any additionalcodes, and to write the read data to an optical disc.

In an embodiment in which the data levels at least comprise, fromhighest to lowest, the user data level, a data frame level, an errorcorrected level, and an encoded data level, the software or firmware mayfurther comprise instructions to read the data from the disc at theencoded data level, and to write the read encoded data to an opticaldisc.

Additionally and/or alternatively instructions to create the Lead-In forthe optical disc being written may be provided.

Alternatively, instructions may be provided to specify physicalcharacteristics of the optical disc being written and to write thespecified physical characteristics to the Lead-in on the optical disc.

Embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described, byway of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows schematically the writing of data to a DVD disc;

FIG. 2 shows a DVD data frame formed during the formatting of the datato be written;

FIG. 3 shows an ECC block formed during formatting of the data to bewritten;

FIG. 4 shows a recording frame formed during formatting of the data tobe written;

FIG. 5 shows a physical sector formed during formatting of the data tobe written;

FIG. 6 shows schematically the reading of data from a DVD disc;

FIG. 7 shows a conventional method of copying a DVD disc;

FIG. 8 shows one example of a method of copying a DVD disc in accordancewith the invention; and

FIG. 9 shows schematically the elements of a DVD drive used in a writingprocess.

As is made clear above, the present invention is applicable to opticaldiscs in general, but is described herein with reference to DVD formats.

The processes for formatting the user data to be applied to a DVD is inaccordance with agreed conventions and is well understood. However, forclarity, the manner in which the data is formatted according to the DVDstandards will now be briefly described. This process is applicable toall formats of DVD.

FIG. 1 shows the steps which are taken in formatting user data to beapplied to a DVD. This user data is the information which is to bewritten to, and accessed from, the disc and may comprise text, graphics,video, audio, programs, control data and/or any other sort of data. Asis indicated in FIG. 1, the user data is organised into blocks 10 whicheach contain 2,048 bytes. The first step in the formatting is toincorporate each block 10 of user data into a corresponding data frame12 which has 2064 bytes. The additional bytes Incorporate identificationand error correction codes.

The format of a DVD data frame 12 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2. Thedata frame 12 comprises twelve rows of data which each have 172 bytesand the first twelve bytes of the first row incorporate four bytes ofidentification data 14, two bytes of error detection code 16 for theidentification data, and six bytes of copyright management information18. The user data fills up the rest of the first row and is arranged inthe following rows. At the end of the last row of the data frame 12 fourbytes of error detection code 20 are provided. This is used to detecterrors in the user data.

As is further shown in FIG. 1, the data frame 12 is then scrambled toform a scrambled frame 22. This scrambling is to remove repeatedsequences of data. The scrambling may be performed by XORing sixteenconsecutive data frames with a first table and then XORing the nextsixteen consecutive data frames with a second table and so on. Thescrambled frame 22, therefore, includes 16×16 data frames 12.

Next an ECC block 24 is formed by error correction encoding in whichsixteen consecutive scrambled frames 22 are arranged into an arrayhaving 192 rows each containing 172 bytes. An example of an ECC block 24is shown in FIG. 3. It will be seen that to each of the 172 columns,sixteen bytes PO of “outer parity” have been added and to each of theresulting 208 rows ten bytes PI of “inner parity” are added. Theseparity bytes PO and PI are error correction codes related to the data inthe rows and columns by known and understood error correctiontechniques.

The ECC block 24 is then input to interleaving means to create sixteenrecording frames 26. These recording frames 26 are created byinterleaving rows from the ECC block 24. Thus, and as shown in FIG. 4,the 37,856 bytes contained in the ECC block 24 are rearranged intosixteen recording frames R₀, R₁, . . . R₁₅ each of which has 2,336bytes. Since each recording frame R has 182 columns there are sixteenrecording frames each consisting of 13 rows.

The recording frames 26 are then subjected to EFM Plus encoding wherebya sequence of bits 30, that is, a series of 0s and 1s, is produced.Thereafter the data 30 is arranged into sixteen physical sectors 28. Onephysical sector 28 is shown in FIG. 5. As can be seen, the EFM Plusencoded data 30 from each recording frame is split down the middle andone byte sync codes S₀, and S₁ are inserted in front of each half row.Thereafter, the resulting sequence of bits 28 is applied to a disc 32.

EFM Plus encoding processes the data with 8 to 16 modulation, that iseach eight bit byte is translated into a sixteen bit word or code word.This is done by selecting each sixteen bit word from a set of four statetables. The encoding is arranged to maintain a low level of DSV (DigitalSum Value).

The resulting data, where each transition from a pit to a landrepresents a 1 and the lack of a transition represents a 0, is convertedto NRZI format, that is Non-Return to Zero Inverted. The bit stream isthen written to the disc 32 by an appropriate mastering means. In thisrespect, in an DVD writer the mastering means will generally be a lasercutter. Laser cutters are also used in mastering houses, but alternativemastering techniques are available and may be utilised.

When it is required to read the disc 32, for example, to use theinformation written thereto, a reverse process takes place. Thus, and asis indicated in FIG. 6, the stream of bits obtained from the disc 32 byway of appropriate pickup means is subjected to transition detection, isformed into physical sectors 34 and is then subjected to EFM Plusdecoding by way of an EFM Plus decoder to produce decoded data 36. Thedecoded data 36 is then used to produce recording frames 38 which arethen applied to de-interleaving means to de-interleave the rows thereofand thereby create an ECC block 40.

The ECC block 40 is subjected to error correction decoding to producedata frames 44 from which the user data 46 can be accessed.

FIG. 7 indicates schematically the copying of a DVD 32 by way of a DVDdrive 50. The DVD drive 50 has the capability to play a DVD, to read thedata on the DVD and to write data to a recordable or rewritable DVD. Inthis respect, and as is well known, the DVD drive 50 will read the datafrom the original DVD 32 by the process indicated in FIG. 6. Therefore,the DVD drive accesses user data 46 from the original disc. The DVDdrive then writes the user data 46 to produce the copy DVD 52.

However, it is often the case that the process used to write data to amaster DVD disc in order to produce original discs had incorporated copyprotection techniques. There are many methods of providing copyprotection but, as a generality, they are usually designed either tostop the DVD drive 50 from being able to write to the copy disc 52 or toensure that the resulting copied disc 52 is degraded or unusable. Mostcopy protection schemes work at the level of the user data.

One method of copy protection, for example, is to manipulate theidentification data 14 in a data frame 12. The sector ID 14 provides asector number which identifies each individual data frame and acts as anaddress for the data in each data frame during use of the data. When thedata on the DVD 32 is being played, various sectors of data will beaccessed by way of their sector addresses and in accordance with theprogramming on the disc. However, a DVD drive as 50 when controlled toread and copy data from the DVD 32 will generally access the sectors insequence. Because of this, copy protection can be provided by generatingout of sequence sector numbers, and/or by repeating sector numbers,and/or by omitting sector numbers. Such manipulations do not adverselyinterfere with normal utilisation of the disc but will provide problemswhen it is required to copy the disc.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method of the invention to subvert such a copyprotection technique. As is illustrated in FIG. 8, the DVD drive 50 iscontrolled by way of a disc copying program 54 to access the data frame12 rather than the user data. It is the data frame 12 as read which isthen written to a copy disc 52 by way of the DVD drive 50. The DVD drivecan be controlled to read the whole of each data frame 12 and to writethat to disc whereby the copy disc 52 would incorporate the same copyprotection. Alternatively, the program 54 could be instructed to removethe sector ID 14 and its error detection code 16 from each read dataframe and to generate new sector IDs with appropriate ID error detectioncodes on writing the data frames to the copy disc 52.

It will be appreciated that to access the data frame 12 a pickup of theDVD drive 50 will detect the data carried on an original optical disc.The detected bit stream of 0s and 1s is arranged into physical sectorsand then is applied to a decoder of the DVD drive 50 for EFM Plusdecoding. The decoded output is then arranged into recording frames byappropriate data processing and buffering means. The recording framesare fed to a de-interleaver which de-interleaves the data rows thereofto form the ECC block 40. An error correcting decoder then determineserror corrected data from the ECC block. This error corrected data isapplied to unscrambling means where it is unscrambled to form a dataframe 44.

The data frame 44 may then be processed to remove the identificationcode 14 and the error detection code 16. In this case, newidentification codes and related error detection codes 14, 16 will needto be generated before the resultant data frame 44 is input toscrambling means of the DVD drive 50. Alternatively the data frame 44 asread may be applied to the scrambling means.

It will be appreciated that the DVD drive 50 not only incorporates allof the data handling elements as described above as used in the datareading process, but it also has appropriate programmable processingmeans to enable and control the reading process. Similarly the DVD drive50 also incorporates all of the necessary data handling elementsrequired to perform the writing process which is now described. Theelements of a DVD drive 50 as used in the writing process areillustrated at FIG. 9.

The DVD drive 50, as shown in FIG. 9, is controllable by a computerprogram 56 to write to a DVD 52. In normal use, the computer program 56arranges the application of user data 10 to a data framer 58 which thenoutputs a data frame as 12. However, in performing the writing processillustrated in FIG. 8, the disc copying program 54 arranges theapplication of the data frame 44 directly to scrambling means in theform of a feedback shift register 60. The scrambled data frame 22 isthen applied to an error correction encoder, for example, ECC blockgenerator 62 which forms an ECC block 24. The ECC block is interleavedand then arranged into recording frames by way of a recording framegenerator 64. The recording frames 26 are applied to an encoder 66 whichuses EFM Plus encoding and the resultant bit stream is arranged intophysical sectors 28 by a physical sector generator 68. The resultant bitstream is applied to an NRZI encoder 72 to form the NRZI encoded bitstream 70 for application to the DVD 52.

The bit stream 70 is written to the disc 52 by a laser cutter whichcomprises an optical pickup 74, a laser diode 76, and a lens 78.

All of the data handling elements which take part in the describedcopying process will generally be provided in conventional DVD writers,either as hardware, or rendered in firmware or software. However, toenable a conventional DVD writer to perform copying methods of theinvention software or firmware will need to be incorporated into theconventional DVD writer to modify the writer, and in particular, thedata handling processes it undertakes. The modifications can beincorporated into the data copying program 54, for example. In thisrespect, FIG. 9 illustrates that data may be selectively applied, by wayof the disc copying program 54, directly to any one of the elements 60,62, 64, 66, 68 or 72. Of course, DVD writers may be provided withappropriate hardware, firmware and/or software which are enabled toperform methods of the invention without modification.

As has been indicated previously, the copying program 54 can be used toselect the level of the data to be read by the DVD drive 50 and theselected data can then be written by the DVD drive to the copy disc 32.It will be appreciated that the level in FIG. 6 at which the data isaccessed will determine the corresponding level in FIG. 1 at which thewriting process is commenced. In general, the lower the level of thedata read, the more exact the copy produced. For example, if theoriginal disc 32 is read at the encoded data level 34 the steam of 0sand 1s can be directly applied to a copy disc and all copy protectiontechniques will thereby be circumvented.

Signature techniques for copy protection often require for theireffectiveness the discarding of error correction information duringreading from a DVD disc. Such a copy protection technique can bedefeated by reading the data from a DVD disc at the level of the ECCblock 40. Where the error correction codes have been manipulated as partof the copy protection technique, it may be required to access the ECCblock which contains both the data and the error correction codes and towrite the ECC block to an optical disc. In other situations it may bebetter to decode the ECC block to determine the data and then to encodethat data, thereby generating new error correction codes in the normalmanner during the process of writing to disc.

Similarly, it is possible to read the recording frames 38 and to writethose frames to the copy disc. Taking the data at the level of therecording frames 38 should defeat most copy protection techniques.

The data on a DVD is arranged to have a Lead-In zone, a main data zone,and a Lead-Out zone. Currently, DVD writers are generally unable towrite information from the Lead-In zone of an original disc to a copydisc. This can cause problems, for example, where data in the Lead-Inzone is required by an authentication program to enable access to thedisc.

This copy protection technique can be circumvented by causing the DVDdrive 50 to create a Lead-In zone for a copied disc which is not copiedfrom the original disc. The copying program 54 could specify physicalcharacteristic information to be stored in the created Lead-In of thecopy disc and similarly it could be arranged to specify manufacturinginformation for the Lead-In. An authentication program will then findappropriate data in the Lead-In and will thereby be caused toauthenticate the copied disc.

Presently, DVD drives are not typically enabled to read the datacontained in the Lead-In zone. This is because DVD drives access data byusing relative sector addresses which are sector numbers relative fromthe start of the track being accessed. By contrast absolute sectoraddresses are counted from the very start of the disc.

It is proposed to give the DVD drive 50 the ability to access the wholeof the Lead-In zone by using absolute sector addresses or negativerelative sector addresses. By this means, the DVD drive 50 is enabled toread the entirety of the Lead-In zone and could then write an entireLead-In zone to a copy disc. The Lead-In zone written could be an exactreplica of that on the original disc or could be manipulated to includedifferent data.

It will be appreciated that further modifications and variations to thetechniques described may be made within the scope of this invention asdefined by the accompanying claims.

1-45. (canceled)
 46. A method of copying a copy protected optical disc,the method comprising the steps of reading data from an optical disc ata selected level which differs from the user data level, and writing thedata read from said selected level to an optical disc to create a usablecopy of a copy protected optical disc, wherein the data levels at leastcomprise, from highest to lowest, the user data level, a data framelevel, an error corrected level, an interleaved level, and an encodeddata level, and wherein the data is read from the optical disc at theerror corrected level without any error correction codes, or from one ofthe other levels above the encoded data level but below the user datalevel, and further comprising writing the read data to an optical disc,the writing step commencing at a data level which corresponds to thedata level from which the data has been read and the writing stepcontinuing down through the data levels to produce resultant encodeddata in the form of a bit stream, which bit stream is written to theoptical disc.
 47. A method of copying a copy protected optical discaccording to claim 46 further comprising reading the data from the errorcorrected level without any error correction codes, and wherein thewriting step involves generating error correction codes for the readdata.
 48. A method of copying a copy protected optical disc according toclaim 47 wherein writing the read data to an optical disc comprisesinterleaving the read data together with the error correction codes,encoding the interleaved data in accordance with EFM Plus encoding andwriting the resultant bit stream to the optical disc.
 49. A method ofcopying a copy protected optical disc according to claim 46, furthercomprising reading the data from the optical disc at the data framelevel.
 50. A method of copying a copy protected optical disc accordingto claim 49, wherein the data is read from the data frame level withoutany additional codes, and the writing step involves generatingadditional codes for the read data.
 51. A method of copying a copyprotected optical disc according to claim 50, wherein the additionalcodes generated include sector numbers.
 52. A method of copying a copyprotected optical disc according to claim 49, wherein the data is readfrom the data frame level together with any additional codes.
 53. Amethod of copying a copy protected optical disc according to claim 49,wherein writing the read data to an optical disc comprises scramblingand subsequently error correcting the read data together with theadditional codes, interleaving the error corrected data, encoding theinterleaved data in accordance with EFM Plus encoding and writing theresultant bit stream to the optical disc.
 54. A method of copying a copyprotected optical disc according to claim 46, further comprising readingthe data from the optical disc at the interleaved level.
 55. A method ofcopying a copy protected optical disc according to claim 46, furthercomprising the step of creating a Lead-In for the optical disc beingwritten.
 56. A method of copying a copy protected optical disc accordingto claim 55, wherein the created Lead-In specifies the physicalcharacteristics and/or manufacturing information for the optical discbeing written.
 57. A method of copying a copy protected optical discaccording to claim 46, wherein the optical disc being written has aLead-In, and further comprising the step of specifying physicalcharacteristics for the optical disc being written and writing thespecified physical characteristics to the Lead-In on the optical disc.58. A method of copying a copy protected optical disc according to claim46, wherein the optical disc being written has a Lead-In, and furthercomprising the step of specifying manufacturing information for theoptical disc being written and writing the specified manufacturinginformation to the Lead-In on the optical disc.
 59. A method of copyinga copy protected optical disc according to claim 46, wherein the opticaldisc being written has a Lead-In, and further comprising the step ofenabling reading and writing of discs using absolute sector addresses,and using the absolute sector addresses to read the entire data in aLead-In of a copy protected optical disc, and writing the data read fromthe Lead-In to a Lead-In of the optical disc being written.
 60. A methodof copying a copy protected optical disc according to claim 46, furthercomprising the step of enabling reading and writing of discs usingnegative relative sector addresses, and using the negative relativesector addresses to read the entire data in a Lead-In of a copyprotected optical disc, and writing the data read from the Lead-In to aLead-In of the optical disc being written.
 61. Apparatus for copyingoptical discs, the apparatus comprising pickup means to detect the datacarried on an optical disc, decoding means for decoding the detecteddata, de-interleaving means for arranging the decoded data into an ECCblock, and error correction decoding means for determining errorcorrected data from said ECC block, and unscrambling means forunscrambling the determined error corrected data and forming a dataframe, and the apparatus further comprising means for writing detecteddata onto an optical disc, the writing means comprising scrambling meansfor scrambling the formed data frame, error correction encoding meansfor encoding said data frame to form an ECC block, interleaving meansfor interleaving the data in the ECC block, encoding means for encodingthe interleaved data, and mastering means for representing the encodeddata on an optical disc, and the apparatus further comprising a disccopying program for selecting the detected data from the ECC block, orthe determined error corrected data, or the data frame and for applyingthe selected data to the corresponding element of the writing means,that is, respectively to the interleaving means, to the error correctionencoding means, or to the scrambling means.
 62. Apparatus for copyingoptical discs according to claim 61, wherein the data is read from thedata frame without any additional codes, and the means for writing thedata to an optical disc comprises means for generating additional codesfor the read data to form a data frame for input to said scramblingmeans.
 63. Apparatus for copying optical discs according to claim 61,wherein said decoding and encoding means operate in accordance with EFMPlus encoding, and wherein said mastering means comprises a lasercutter.
 64. Software or firmware for use with an optical disc drive toenable the copying of optical discs, the software or firmware comprisinginstructions for reading data from an optical disc at a selected levelwhich differs from the user data level, and instructions to write theread data from the selected level to an optical disc to create a copy ofthe disc, wherein the data levels at least comprise, from highest tolowest, the user data level, a data frame level, an error correctedlevel, an interleaved level, and an encoded data level, and wherein thesoftware or firmware further comprises instructions to read the datafrom the optical disc at the error corrected level without any errorcorrection codes, or from one of the other levels above the encoded datalevel but below the user data level, and wherein the software orfirmware further comprises instructions to undertake a writing step towrite the read data to an optical disc, the instructions causing thewriting step to commence at a data level which corresponds to the datalevel from which the data has been read, and the instructions causingthe writing step to continue down through the data levels to produceresultant encoded data in the form of a bit stream, and to write theresultant bit stream to the optical disc.
 65. Software or firmwareaccording to claim 64, further comprising instructions to read the datafrom the error corrected level without any error correction codes, andinstructions to include in the writing step the generation of errorcorrection codes for the read data.
 66. Software or firmware accordingto claim 64, wherein the instructions for the writing step compriseinstructions to interleave the read data together with the errorcorrection codes, to form the interleaved data into physical sectors, toencode the data in the physical sectors in accordance with EFM Plusencoding and to write the resultant bit stream to the optical disc. 67.Software or firmware according to claim 64, further comprisinginstructions to read the data from the optical disc at the data framelevel.
 68. Software or firmware according to claim 67, furthercomprising instructions to read the data from the data frame levelwithout any additional codes, and instructions for the writing step toinclude the generation of additional codes for the read data. 69.Software or firmware according to claim 68, further comprisinginstructions to generate additional codes including sector numbers. 70.Software or firmware according to claim 67, further comprisinginstructions to read the data from the data frame level together withany additional codes.
 71. Software or firmware according to claim 68,wherein the instructions to write the read data to an optical disccomprise instructions to scramble and subsequently error correct theread data together with the additional codes, to interleave the errorcorrected data, to form the interleaved data into physical sectors, toencode the data in the physical sectors in accordance with EFM Plusencoding, and to write the resultant bit stream to the optical disc. 72.Software or firmware according to claim 64, further comprisinginstructions to read the data from the optical disc at the interleavedlevel.
 73. Software or firmware according to claim 64, furthercomprising instructions to create a Lead-In for the optical disc beingwritten.
 74. Software or firmware according to claim 73, furthercomprising instructions to specify in the created Lead-In the physicalcharacteristics and/or manufacturing information for the optical discbeing written.
 75. Software or firmware according to claim 64, furthercomprising instructions to specify physical characteristics of theoptical disc being written and to write the specified physicalcharacteristics to a Lead-In on the optical disc.
 76. Software orfirmware according to claim 64, further comprising instructions tospecify manufacturing information for the optical disc being written andto write the specified manufacturing information to a Lead-In on theoptical disc.
 77. Software or firmware according to claim 64, furthercomprising instructions to enable reading and writing of discs usingabsolute sector addresses, and to use the absolute sector addresses toread the entire data in a Lead-In of a copy protected optical disc, andto write the data read from the Lead-In to a Lead-In of the optical discbeing written.
 78. Software or firmware according to claim 64, furthercomprising instructions to enable reading and writing of discs usingnegative relative sector addresses, to use the negative relative sectoraddresses to read the entire data in a Lead-In of a copy protectedoptical disc, and to write the data read from the Lead-In to a Lead-Inof the optical disc being written.